How to read literature as a professor
Chapter 1-Every trip is a quest (Except when its not)
List the five aspects of the QUEST and then apply them to something you have read (or viewed) in the form used on pages 3-5.
The five aspects
1. A quester
2.A place to go
3.A stated reason to go there
4.Challenges and trials on route
5.A real reason to go there
The five aspects seen in the book "Emperor The Blood Of The Gods"
1. Octavian Caesar (Augustus) The adopted son of Julius Caesar, later becoming the first Emperor of Rome.
2. Brundisium
3. To gather legions to defeat the liberators who assassinated Julius Caesar for revenge.
4. Difficulty convincing and buying the legion commanders (Legates) to fight under Octavian.
5. To rise up as an powerful leader in a chaotic time where there is no official ruler,
Chapter 2-Nice to eat with you: Acts of communication
In this chapter we learnt the importance of a meal and how it is a way of communication. We see it everywhere in books, movies and even in real life where we simply seat down and share a meal together. This has been a way of socialising from the beginning of time. The books I read over the summer "Emperor Blood of Gods" and "Emperor Gates Of Rome" both have this idea of a meal being the most social thing to do. Most of the social scenes revolve around food and drinks and it is quite interesting to see how many times the characters get together and dine discussing "business". "Wine cups of gold and silver were pressed into the rough hands of every man back in through the gates, Gaius and Marcus included. Dark purple win slushed and gurgled as it was poured from clay jugs. Marius held his cup high his expression sombre. To those who didn't make it today who died for us, good men all!" (Iggulden 172). This quote is from a scene where the men got back to the villa from a bloody march from the senate. As you can see here wine is used as a communication tool and a reward for Marius`s men.
Chapter 9-Its Greek to me
Write a free verse poem derived or inspired by characters or situations from Greek mythology. Be prepared to share your poem with the class. Note that there are extensive links to classical mythology on my Classics
page.
Achilles was the best fighter in Greece
He would cut you down piece by piece
He made killing look real easy
Leaves you feeling a little queazy
People believed it was impossible for him to die
Everybody looking for answers wondering why
Damn isn't there any weakness to this guy?
Turns out there is but one
And it ain`t no gun
This was something we all had
Its something that makes us do things when we`re feeling mad or sad
It wasn't an arrow that killed him, but it was his pride
He chose to be an hero where he could of been a loving father and a husband to a bride
But those dreams all died
Because of his damn pride
Chapter 11- More than its gonna hurt you: Concerning violence
Now personally I love violence, Whats the fun in a novel without it? It satisfies our bloodlust and it makes us imagine and fantasise about it. Violence is often symbolic meaning it stands for something. Foster says there are two categories of violence. The first one is character caused violence. This includes shootings, stabbings, bombings you name it. The important thing is that the character intentionally caused it. "Renius swayed inside the blow clumsily and ripped his glades up into the man`s smooth-shaven chest" (Iggulden 246). The second category is the death and suffering that is not caused by the character. "Another blade entered him, shoved down into the gap between his breastplate and neck, deep into his lung. Turburk saw Julius collapse under a mass of bodies that spilled past the walkway" (Iggulden 119). This quote relatable for the second category. In this quote the protagonists father is killed by a horde of slaves as the protagonist watched from a distance. This is an example of a uncontrollable death.
Chapter 16-Its all about sex
Sex is a powerful factor when it comes to novels. It may not just be a act of love, it can have a political or other meaningful reason to it. The most common sex I see in novels relates to character development. For example in the book "Emperor Gates of Rome", sex is used to show the development from childhood to manhood. The book shows how the protagonist, Gaius faces challenges into becoming a man. One of the biggest challenges was sex. Gaius being a shy boy had difficulties facing his first love Alexandria. But eventually as he matures into a young man he finally confronts his love leading to sex. Now the description is somewhat vivid and the reader gets a good image of whats going on. But the important bit is to see past that and get a deeper idea of how its affecting the characters development.